Crimping tool with retainer-ejector



April 25, 1967 R. s. STULL 3,315,337

CRIMPING TOOL WITH RETAINER-EJECTOR Filed June 28, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \dijei INVENTOR. R0155 RT STANL Y 511Wh April 25, 1967 R. s. STULL 3,315,337

CRIMPING TOOL WITH RETAINER-EJECTOR Filed June 28, 1965 2 SheetsSheet 2 M WITHDRAWAI- L HIHHIII iH INVENTOR. Rosam- STANLEY S'I'uu.

United States Patent 3,315,337 CRIMPING TOOL WITH RETAINER-EJECTOR Robert Stanley Stull, Mechanicsburg, Pa., assignor to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa. Filed June 28, 1965, Ser. No. 467,311 Claims. (Cl. 29-203) straight-action type wherein rotary movement of the tool handles operates to drive sets of ganged dies in linear movement in closure in a head attached to the ends of handles. In the kind of tool described in my prior application or in using any tool where more than a single 'crimp is applied simultaneously to a terminal or connector body a number of shortcomings havebecor'ne evident. The most frequent objection voiced by users is that the necessary alignment of the terminal or connector body in conjunction with the required manipulation of the tool for closure and crimping is too diflicult. Part of this problem arises because the tools of use are of necessity of heavy construction to provide long life and reliability. Part of the problem lies in the fact that one must manipulate the tool with one hand and hold the connector in alignment with the other hand. These problems are aggravated by certain constructions of terminals and connectors and particularly by those terminals and connectors in the miniature and subminiature range Wherein the very smallness of the parts makes it difficult for the average person to simultaneously hold the part in exact alignment with one hand and manipulate the tool with the other hand. Even in applications wherein tool closure is hydraulically or pneumatically effected, the extremely small size of parts creates difficulty due' to visual and other physical limitations inherent in the average person.

.With tools of .the type which must be fully closed before being released the foregoing problems are further aggravated since it is not practical to back the tool off in the event that the terminal or connector body becomes fouled on edges of the die surfaces due to misalignment.

.The typical production worker habitually completes tool closure and discards the ruined connector with a good chance of damaging the tool dies.

Still another problem with prior art devices is that after the crimping operation has been achieved the connector or terminal body has on occasion been found to stick to the die surfaces, being held therein by flashing or portions of metalextruded around the die surface edges. When this occurs the connector assembly will usually be left on one or the other die surfaces or will drop into the body of the tool as the tool is opened. This is undesirable.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a crimping tool having a retaining mechanism to hold a terminal or connector body in alignment during crimping operations. It is another object of the invention to provide an ejecting mechanism operable to position a terminal or connector in the same position in a tool following each crimping operation. It is another object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive retaining and ejecting mechanism for crimping tools which is operable to exactly position and align a terminal or connector body in a crimping tool prior to and after crimping operations.

3,315,337 Patented Apr. 25, 1967 the tool and force such under spring pressure into contact with at least two of the die surfaces on one side of the tool. In the embodiment shown, the invention mechanism is carried out by a spring member fastened at one end to a relief in one of the dies of the tool of use and looped downwardly to provide resiliency in a position between adjacent dies of the tool to be carried in closure clear of opposing die faces. The spring has an upper end which is beveled to permit insertion and withdrawal of the terminal or connector body and has an upstanding leg which is positioned to hold the connector body against the die faces prior to the crimping operation and to pull the connector or terminal body off opposing die faces responsive to the opening stroke of the crimping operation.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the top of the tool of the invention showing a connector in position therein in plan and portions of the tool in section;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the tool head of the invention in the closed position; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side view showing the retaining and ejecting spring of the invention fixed in one of the die members of the assembly as shown in FIGURES l and 2.

In FIGURE 2 the assembly 10 represents the head of the tool of the invention; the handles not being shown but being understood to be linked to the driving plates 11a and 11b through the apertures therein. The general operation of 10 is as described in my earlier filed application above mentioned such as to effect closure of dies in straight line action as the plates are driven together.

Viewing the assembly 10 from the top shows the dies thereof in the open position with a coaxial connector fitted therein. The die surfaces are defined by the sets of dies shown as 12, 16 and 20 to the right and 14, 18 and 22 to the left. Each die set is rigidly held together by a bolt such as 21, 23-, or some means passing through the die plates so that in use the various dies move simultaneously along the path indicated by the arrow. In closure, the die pairs 1214, 16-18 and 20-22 operate to effect three separate, axially displaced crimps to the connector positioned within the tool.

The connector shown as 32 includes an outer metallic conductive shell 32:: which defines a contact portion in its forward end and has contained therein a center contact 34 supported by dielectric material coaxially of the outer shell. Leading to the center pin 34 are apertures 32b, and 320 which permit entry of the die pair 20 and 22 into the body of the connector to effect a crimp of the center contact terminating it to the center conductor. of the cable C. The rear portion of 32 includes an extension 36 over which is fitted braid or outer conductor of C and a ferrule 38 adapted to be crimped inwardly by the die pair 16 and 18 to terminate the braid or outer conductor to the extension 36 and thereby to the outer metallic shell of 32. The rear portion of the ferrule 38 is crimped inwardly by the die pair 12 and 14 to firmly grip the outer insulating sheath of C and support the cable against bending loads relative to the termination effected in the forward portions of the connector. A complete description of the connector construction shown in FIGURE 1 is given in co-pending application Ser. No. 441,626 filed Mar. 22, 1965, in the name of Michael F. OKeefe et a1. As is described in that application, the connector is extremely small in size and is physically diflicult to handle. Without the invention the crimping operation is accomplished by grasping the cable connector as assembled but not crimped by the-cable C and with one hand holding such in alignment with the various die pairs as shown in FIG- URE 1. Then with the other hand the tool is operated for closure to completethe crimping stroke. This means that the cable connector assembly must be first positioned and then held while the dies close. Any cocking or slight rotation will result in the die face 22a catching on the side of the shell 32a and ruining the connector. Any axial displacement of the connector-cable assembly will cause the various die pairs to smash theconnector.

From FIGURE 1 it will be seen that a space is left between the die pairs 12-16 and 14-18. Within this space is fitted a resilient spring member shown as 30 which is tied to the right hand set of dies in the manner shown in FIGURE 3. Thus in the die 12 there is provided a slot 12b which includes vertical and horizontal intersecting portions adapted to receive, contain and support part of the spring 30 which is nested within the slot and captivated by the opposite surface of the die 16 held thereagainst. As shown in FIGURE 3, spring 30 includes an upturned end 30a joining at right angles a portion 30b which extends out of the body of the die and out of the slot 1212 into a U-shaped or looped portion 30c. The looped portion 300 provides a sufficient length of the spring to permit substantial resiliency in an upstanding vertically disposed portion 30d terminated by portion 302 curved outwardly above the die surface shown as 12a in FIGURE 3. The disposition of 30to hold the connector 32 in position is shown dotted in FIGURE 2 and as can be seen 30 exerts a horizontal force pressing 32 to the dies 12, 16 and 20. From FIGURE 1 the position of 30 will be seen to exert a force along the line between the dies 12 and 16 which engage the connector assembly at two spaced points to thus support the connector resiliently but firmly in against the die faces.

As the tool is driven in closure the spring 30 is carried without movement relative to the right hand side where it is anchored over in between the dies 14 and 18. As the crimping operation takes place any deformation of the zone of the ferrule 38 engaged by 30 will be accommodated by the resiliency of 30. In certain instances this deformation will constitute a bulging of the ferrule in the zone engaged 'by 30 and a clearance is provided for such between the dies 14 and 18. After the crimping operation the tool is driven to open and the spring 30 operates to pull the connector assembly away from the surfaces of dies 14, 18 and 22 and hold it in engagement with the surfaces ,of dies 16 and20 until the die is fully opened .and the assembly may be withdrawn.

The insertion, withdrawal procedure is quite simple. With the tool opened as shown in FIGURE 1 and the connector assembled but uncrimped the cable connector as sembly is displaced downwardly deflecting spring 30 as shown in FIGURE 3 outwardly to a point wherein the die face 20a rests against some outside surface of the shell 32. At this point, the connector is rotated until one of the apertures 32b or 320 becomes aligned with the die face 20a and then the connector is manipulated to permit the die face to enter the aperture and engage the center pin. At this point the assembly may be released to be held in a fixed and exact alignment with the various dies by 30. Thereafter, the tool may be operated to close and efiect the crimping operation. The tool may then be opened into the position shown'in FIGURE 1 with 30 holding the connector assembly against the dies 12, 16 and 20. The connector assembly may be grasped at the rear end proximate cable C and then pulled to the left (in FIGURE 1) to deflect spring 30 and be snapped out of its engagement with the die surfaces of die 20.

Because of the construction of the spring 30 there is no particular criticality of tolerance, the spring merely being made such as to drive the connector assembly inwardly under a resilient force and to ride with the right hand die pairs in closure. The resilient force achieved through the use of 30 means that the connector will be retained against the right handed die surfaces notwithstanding changes in the connector ferrule configuration at the point of engagement with 30. In use with hand tools the invention mechanism means that both hands are free for manipulation of the tool. In manual or hydraulic and pneumatic driven applications it additionally means that the workers fingers are well clear of engagement of the dies.

Having now described my invention in a preferred mode of practice I now define it through the appfinded claims.

What is claimedis:

1. In a tool for terminating connectors of the type having an outer shell and a ferrule adapted to be fitted there- 'over and crimped thereto at one end of said shell and having a center contact member with ports in said shell to permit entry of dies to crimp said center contact member to the center conductor of a cable, the combination comprising opposing sets of dies with at least one die pair to crimp said ferrule and spaced axially therefrom a further die pair to crimp said center contact member, a resilient member disposed between said die pairs in a position to engage the outer shell of a connector inserted in said tool and hold such in alignment with said die sets and against .one side of said dies with said ports being aligned with the axis of travel of said further pair of dies, means to guide said dies in movements opening and closing relative to said outer shell, and means for driving said dies in such movements.

2. The tool of claim 1 wherein said resilient member is afiixed to one side of said die sets and includes a portion operable to eject the connector from the other side of said die sets after crimping by holding the connector against said one side.

3. The tool of claim 2 wherein said resilient member portion is disposed to permit insertion and withdrawal of connector therefrom in a sense transverse to the axis of die movement.

4. The tool of claim 1 wherein said resilient member is comprised of a generally U-shaped spring having one end aflixed to one side of said die sets and having the other end free for movement relative to the other of said die sets.

v 5. The tool of claim 1 wherein said resilient member consists of fiat stock spring material including alower U- shaped portion and an upwardly extending arm flared at its end to receive a connectorferrule inserted therewithin and bias such ferrule against one of said sets of dies.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,359,083 9/1944 Carlson 81418 XR 2,765,688 10/ 1956 Evans 81350 XR 2,829,549 4/ 1958 Demler 29203 2,953,185 9/1960 Lazar 29203 XR 3,205,568 9/1965 Stull 72-410 XR JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner. TI-IOMASH. EAGER, Examiner, 

1. IN A TOOL FOR TERMINATING CONNECTORS OF THE TYPE HAVING AN OUTER SHELL AND A FERRULE ADAPTED TO BE FITTED THEREOVER AND CRIMPED THERETO AT ONE END OF SAID SHELL AND HAVING A CENTER CONTACT MEMBER WITH PORTS IN SAID SHELL TO PERMIT ENTRY OF DIES TO CRIMP SAID CENTER CONTACT MEMBER TO THE CENTER CONDUCTOR OF A CABLE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING OPPOSING SETS OF DIES WITH AT LEAST ONE DIE PAIR TO CRIMP SAID FERRULE AND SPACED AXIALLY THEREFROM A FURTHER DIE PAIR TO CRIMP SAID CENTER CONTACT MEMBER, A RESILIENT MEMBER DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID DIE PAIRS IN A POSITION TO ENGAGE THE OUTER SHELL OF A CONNECTOR INSERTED IN SAID TOOL AND HOLD SUCH IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID DIE SETS AND AGAINST ONE SIDE OF SAID DIES WITH SAID PORTS BEING ALIGNED WITH THE AXIS OF TRAVEL OF SAID FURTHER PAIR OF DIES, MEANS TO GUIDE SAID DIES IN MOVEMENTS OPENING AND CLOSING RELATIVE TO SAID OUTER SHELL, AND MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID DIES IN SUCH MOVEMENTS. 